School of Fun for Children in Fukushima

Please find a Japanese version of this report here.

For five days from March 26 to 30, 2024, we conducted our first trans-Pacific camp, entitled "ALOHA FROM HAWAII". Nineteen children from Tohoku, Kanto, Tokai, and Kyushu, ranging from 3rd grade elementary school student to 3rd grade high school (technical college) student, participated in the event.

The theme of the camp was "Use your wings of creativity to go out into the Pacific". The results of the post-camp questionnaire showed that all participants said the camp was in line with this theme.

While for many members this was their first trip abroad, we were surrounded by the kindness of the Hawaiian people and we experienced many things. We cooked dinner together, swam in the pool and ocean, explored the great outdoors, and visited a children's creation lab called VIVISTOP, where we danced, made music, designed T-shirts and made stuffed animals with local children. The camp was full of fun and excitement.

The camp was a great learning experience for the members who participated and for the staff. A member who is now a high school student wrote words to this effect: "I imagined adventure as something more thrilling, but now I realise that adventure as a camp is 'going abroad together', and that alone is a big thing."

A month on, our members-only social media site is still full of memories of the trip by the children who took part in it. The children's wings of creativity are spreading further and further.

Links:

• Academy Camp Facebook page in English